The present invention relates, generally, to the storage appliances, and, specifically, to a method and system for storage of perishable items.
Refrigerators of varied sizes are manufactured to store items that require temperature control to maintain their quality. Household refrigerators are used to store perishable food items such as vegetables, meat, and milk. Commercial refrigerators are used at places such as restaurants, industries, retail stores, and medical stores to store food items, medicines, chemicals etc. Since different items have different temperature requirements, refrigerators are generally divided into different compartments. Vegetables are generally stored in an enclosed compartment, to avoid direct exposure to the cold temperatures outside the enclosed compartment. Recent studies have shown that perishable items such as vegetables stay fresh longer when they are exposed to light. In particular, it has been observed that vegetables show an increase in photosynthesis when the vegetables are exposed to blue and red light of visible wavelengths.
Currently many refrigerator manufacturers utilize light emitting devices in their refrigerators. Light emitting devices such as fluorescent lamps are prone to emitting thermal energy that can lead to a change in temperature of the entire refrigerator, which is not desirable for storage of other items that require cold temperatures for proper storage. European Patent Application EP2385332, assigned to Whirlpool Co, discloses the use of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) that dissipate less thermal energy than other light emitting devices. Refrigerators that use LEDs utilize a combination of blue and red LEDs to produce light of particular wavelengths required for nourishment of vegetables.
However, even with the usage of LEDs it has been observed that the temperature in the enclosed compartments and the refrigerator, in general, increases by about 3° C. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/523,772, assigned to LG Electronics Inc., for example, tries to solve the problem of heat dissipation by controlling the time for which the LEDs are switched on with the use of software algorithms. The software algorithms involve complex calculations pertaining to calculating the temperature of the refrigerator and the thermal energy dissipated by the LEDs. The processing power required for these complex calculations adds to the cost of the refrigerators.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/394,386, assigned to Electrolux Home Products Inc., also discloses a refrigeration appliance that has slots for lighting devices to be fitted along its length. These slots are made to the appliance during manufacture, and cannot be added to existing storage devices. The lighting devices cannot be retrofitted into storage devices being used currently. Also, the aforementioned approach is specific to domestic refrigeration appliances and cannot be used with commercial storage spaces.
Light emitting devices also have ill effects of perishable items such as milk and beer that are known to degrade under exposure of light. Current lighting solutions for refrigerators do not account for such ill effects.
Thus, there is a need for a method and a system for storing perishable items that utilizes appropriate LEDs that can be driven for minimum amount of time while providing enough light to aid nourishment of the perishable items stored in the refrigerator.